The horrifying humor , the specifically sexual embarrassment of the joke gone_wrong , the monstrous image of the fat man dressed_up as a whore dressing_up as a baby ; the epiphany of that quivering flesh ; the bringing_together around it of the secret liaison between indolent , mindless sensuality and sharp , shrewd talent , cleverness with an occasional touch of genius ( which , however , does not know `` how to attack the problem of suffering '' ) ; the miraculous way in which music , revelation and death are associated in a single instant - all this seems a triumph of art , a rather desperate art , in itself ; beyond itself , also , it evokes numerous and distant resonances from the entire body of Mann 's work .

Professionally a lawyer , that_is_to_say associated with dignity , reserve , discipline , with much that is essentially middle-class , he is compelled by an impossible love to exhibit himself dressed_up , disguised - that_is , paradoxically , revealed - as a child , and , worse , as a whore masquerading as a child .